Curiosity Killed The Shark
by MufasasPride
Summary: Rin has a holy grail: To solve the mystery of what kind of music Sousuke likes and listens to, but Sousuke is national champion in the art of "Keeping Rin Out of Stuff Where He's Not Wanted". Oneshot.


**Ayyy finally taking a break from sexythroatbitchohyescats and I's long-ass Makoharu arson novel and posting something on my own account for once. This started with a random idea that made me laugh and somehow turned into... this. Bear with me.**

 **The amount of shark related items I purchased this past week in honor of Shark Week and Rin is embarrassing. The trash is so real.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own _Free!._ Unfortunately.**

* * *

Rin had never seen Sousuke without his ipod before a race or swim meet.

Even if they only had a minute to spare beforehand, Sousuke would always pull the slim black rectangle out from his pocket and put the buds in his ears, scrolling for a second before selecting a song. A few seconds into whatever song he had happened to choose, Sousuke would take in a deep breath and close his eyes, lightly tilting his head back as he continued to draw even breaths, his chest slowly expanding and contracting. Other than the rise and fall of his chest, he would be completely still, never a flicker or twitch from his eyelids or mouth, despite the loud and chaotic world that was often the setting around him. Time would slow as Rin would watch him, Sousuke sucked into his own world and Rin sucked into Sousuke's.

Then Sousuke would open his eyes.

No matter how many times Rin swam with Sousuke, it still scared the absolute fuck out of him.

Sousuke would tilt his head back down, a muscle in his jaw clenching. His pale eyes would focus straight ahead like razors, cutting into Rin's skin and making him inadvertently recoil, although he'd never admit to it. Their icy blue fiercely blazed with power and competition, somehow blocking everyone else out yet challenging them at the same time. Sousuke was already a tall, intimidating person, but once he snapped into his competition mode, he'd have this miasma of intensity swirling around him that would make most people step back and keep away. Even Rin, who knew Sousuke better than anyone, felt pitifully small in his presence.

And it made Rin pissed as hell.

Sousuke barely appeared to notice people around him (who all kind of scurried out of his way) and only focused on one thing: the pool. He wouldn't even talk or say anything unless it was absolutely necessary. It wasn't that he would ignore people so much as he didn't find their existence to be of any importance to him in that moment. What did he care that Momo had brought Pyunsuke to the pool and let him loose? Or that the race directly before his had had a false start? It did not matter. He was there to win. That was the only thing that required his attention.

But he only shifted into that mood after listening to something for at least thirty seconds on his ipod. He'd be lighthearted and conversational just moments before, and then he would change to steel and sharpness. Which made Rin wonder; what the hell was Sousuke listening to?

Sousuke was oddly protective of his ipod and music choices. He never brought up any songs or styles he liked, and when asked, he would always reply with something vague like "I don't know, whatever." He kept a lock on his ipod, which Rin had happened to discover when he had sneakily pulled it out of the pocket of Sousuke's messenger bag in an attempt to find out what it was that Sousuke was listening to. After turning it on, it prompted him for a four-digit passcode, which Rin certainly had no chance in hell of guessing correctly. So he had grumpily turned it back off and put it back in the messenger back, his prying luckily escaping the notice of Sousuke, saving him from certain death.

Rin thought it was weird that Sousuke almost refused to talk about music. They were best friends and high schoolers; it was a common subject for people to discuss and think about, yet Sousuke never said a word about what he liked or asked what Rin liked. Maybe it wouldn't pique Rin's interest if Sousuke had said that he didn't like music and didn't have an ipod, but with Sousuke using his ipod all the time and definitely listening to _something_ , it filled Rin with curiosity and suspicion.

So Rin swore that he would find out what was on Sousuke's ipod. He didn't care what measures it required or how long it took, as long as he solved the mystery.

* * *

Rin entered the Samezuka pool, taking in a deep breath of the familiar chlorine scent as he rolled up the sleeves to his jacket. He had a little while before the joint practice between them and the Iwatobi guys, but he had wanted to get there early. And judging off of Makoto and Haru sitting next to each other on one of the benches, they had wanted to get there early too. As Rin walked closer to them, he noticed that the two of them were both listening to their own ipods, with Haru leaning up against Makoto slightly. The two of them were completely sucked into their own little world, as per usual. Rin grimaced. _Revolting._

Smirking, he strode up beside the oblivious pair and promptly plucked out one of Makoto's earbuds, making the brown haired guy jump violently in shock. "R-Rin?" Makoto choked, his eyes wide and and surprised. Haru glowered at Rin from behind Makoto, obviously displeased from being displaced from Makoto's shoulder.

Rin laughed at their expressions, before placing Makoto's earbud in his own ear. After about ten seconds of introspective acoustic guitar and lyrics about love, Rin gagged and handed it back to Makoto. "You're such a sap," he said accusingly, making Makoto laugh awkwardly. Rin walked over and sat down on the other side of Haru, shoving his hands inside his pockets.

After a slight pause with Rin staring out onto the water, he felt Haru poke him in the shoulder. When he turned his head to face him, Haru was holding out one of his earbuds. "Do you want to listen to mine too?" he asked, looking at Rin expectantly. Rin sighed and snaked his hand out from his pocket, reluctantly reaching up to take the earbud and putting it in his ear.

Rin wasn't entirely sure what he was listening to. Was that a… voice? No, an oboe? There was no steady tempo or sound to latch onto and it all shifted so quickly that Rin felt like he was getting whiplash. He sat there in a confused daze, feeling like his senses were being smashed and squeezed and melted all at the same time, before he came to his senses and ripped the earbud out. "What the hell?!" he exclaimed, giving Haru a disgusted look. "Haru, that is what drugs sound like."

Haru grumpily took back the earbud, clearly offended by Rin's distaste in his music. "I'm not surprised you know what drugs sound like," he retorted, smirking.

"Shut the fuck up, Haru," Rin growled, scowling.

Makoto laughed nervously and leaned forward. "Ah, you guys…" he mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck.

Haru replaced the earbud and pointedly turned away from Rin, reclaiming his spot on Makoto's shoulder. Rin groaned and got up, not wanting to be anywhere near the two cuddly lovebirds.

Luckily, he didn't have long to wait before members of his team began to show up and he, as well as the repulsive cuddly lovebirds, began to warm up. After a while he noticed Sousuke slip in unobtrusively, his ipod in his hands and earbuds in his ears. As Sousuke sat down at a bench, Rin decided to take the initiative and follow him, sliding to sit beside him.

"Hey," Rin said, watching as Sousuke set his messenger bag down on the floor beneath the bench.

"Hey," replied Sousuke gruffly, still apparently able to hear him with his earbuds in.

Rin observed Sousuke's eyes looking ahead, stoically watching Nagisa dragging Rei around by his arm, although Rin knew that Sousuke wasn't really watching. Rin was so tempted to pull out his earbud and put it in his own ear, but he didn't really feel like dying today, so he tried to go for a more diplomatic approach. Although, the diplomatic approach was probably more of a death sentence for Rin than anything else.

He nudged Sousuke on the shoulder. "What are you listening to?"

For a moment he thought Sousuke hadn't heard him, but then without tearing his eyes away from straight in front of him, Sousuke responded in a flat voice, "You wouldn't know it." Without another word, he stood up and slipped off his jacket and track pants, shoving them into his bag, before pointedly turning off his ipod and putting it in there as well. He left Rin sitting on the bench by himself, gritting his teeth in frustration.

 _Why the hell is he being so secretive about it?_ Rin fumed silently, angrily unzipping his own jacket and ripping it off.

"Riiiiiiiiin-chaaaaaaaaaaaan!" he heard Nagisa call out, observing the small blond kid running, or rather frolicking, towards him while waving his arms exuberantly. Behind him followed Rei at a slower pace, yelling after him, "Nagisa-kun! Running is against the pool's code of conduct!"

"Rin-chan!" Nagisa repeated once standing in front of Rin, his brown eyes twinkling. "Why do you look so grumpy?"

"Shut up!" Rin hissed, baring his teeth. "I do not!"

Rei had finally managed to catch up to Nagisa and stopped behind him, folding his arms. "Nagisa-kun, are you trying to get us kicked out of this facility?" he scolded, adjusting his red framed glasses.

Nagisa ignored Rei and leaned in to Rin's face. "You sound pretty grumpy to me, Rin-chan," he said, before his eyes twinkled mischievously. "Does it have to do something with Sou-chan?"

"No!" Rin responded, a little too quickly. Nagisa and Rei both raised their eyebrows. Rin cursed himself and bit his tongue by accident, blood instantly spurting beneath his sharp teeth.

"Riiiiiin-chaaaaaan, you can talk to us," Nagisa pouted, batting his eyes demurely. He clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on his heels.

Rin's jaw twitched in irritation. "You know you're the least trustworthy person out of everyone here, right?" he mumbled.

Rei let out a barking laugh before covering it up by pretending to cough. Nagisa's pout deepened and he folded his arms. "Rei-chan, Rin-chan, you guys are so mean!" he whined, sticking out his bottom lip. "I'm just trying to be a good friend and you guys are insulting me!"

Rin sighed and rolled his eyes, wishing he had the ability to not fall prey to the will of Nagisa, but like nearly everyone he knew, he too cowed before the beast. "Fine," he muttered exasperatedly. "So… um…" He ran his fingers through his hair, trying to figure out a way to phrase his situation. "So Sousuke always listens to music, right? Well… I have no idea what kind of music he's listening to and he's never even mentioned any songs or styles. And he avoids it when I ask."

Rei squinted his eyes. "...that's what you're angry about?" he asked in a disbelieving tone. "I mean," he coughed, noticing the dangerous glare Rin was giving him, "It just seems a bit… ridiculous. And a waste of energy." He nervously cleared his throat.

"If you were as close to Sousuke as I am, you would be just as pissed," Rin huffed, annoyed. "This has been going on for too damn long."

"Now, now, Rei-chan," Nagisa cooed, patting Rei's arm. "I think it's understandable for Rin-chan to be confused! We should try to help him!"

"Please don't," Rin muttered, rubbing his forehead.

Nagisa sat down beside Rin and leaned in with wide, perky eyes. "I totally understand your annoyance, Rin-chan," he chirped, scooting closer as Rin tried to scoot away. He looked up at Rei affectionately. "Although Rei-chan and I have different tastes in music, we at least _know_ what the other likes!"

Rei sighed. "Yes, Nagisa-kun, I know fully well that you like French pop from the 1960s, because you always blast it when I'm trying to study," he muttered, bring a hand up to his head.

"Hey! I don't play it _just_ when you're studying," Nagisa said coyly, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Rei blanched and immediately turned bright red. "N-Nagisa-kun!" he stammered as Nagisa giggled impishly.

"Nope," Rin said, starting to stand up. "Goodbye." He didn't even fully straighten up before Nagisa grasped his arm and yanked him back down to sitting with surprising force. "Nagisa!" he hissed, his eyes shooting daggers at the small blond.

Nagisa ignored Rin's venom and instead grinned, patting Rin on the shoulder. "But back to your problem, Rin-chan," he said, putting his index finger to his lip and looking up, as if thinking through options. After a moment, he blinked and looked back at Rin, his eyes sparkling with enthusiasm. "Well, if you haven't been able to get Sou-chan to tell you anything, you'll have to take matters into your own hands," he proposed excitedly, clenching his small hand into a fist. "Give him a couple of options that'll make him want to tell you about his music!" Nagisa nodded and gave Rin a thumbs up. "It's always easier if they make the decision to tell by themselves!"

"So basically," Rin said in a flat voice, "You're suggesting blackmail."

"It's not _blackmail_ ," Nagisa mumbled through pouty lips, looking insulted. "It's just a little way for him to realize that he doesn't need to hide his music choices!"

"Yeah, it's blackmail," Rin sighed, running his fingers through his hair. A little chuckle escaped his mouth despite himself. "You know you're terrifying, right?" he asked, looking down at the blond with a bemused expression.

"That's mean, Rin-chan!" Nagisa complained, although with a sly smile on his face. Rin shuddered internally as he looked at the bouncy curls and mischievous eyes. He realized that Nagisa held the number two spot on his "Most Frightening Persons" list, with first place forever being held by Sousuke.

Nagisa got up and turned to head back to the rest of the team, before looking back over his shoulder and calling back, "Let me know how it goes, Rin-chan!" and winking.

"I won't," Rin muttered, standing up and heading over to his team as well.

* * *

Later that night, after dinner in Samezuka's cafeteria, Rin and Sousuke returned to their dorm room. Sousuke immediately climbed up to his top bunk and flopped down on the mattress, evidently worn out from the day's events. He sighed and adjusted to a more comfortable position, before slipping a hand into the pocket of his teal jacket and, much to Rin's recurring annoyance and obsessiveness, pulled out his ipod. He watched from below as Sousuke scrolled through, trying to catch a glimpse of a song title or artist, but he was too far away. Sousuke selected something and exhaled, setting the ipod down beside him on the sheet.

Rin knew he wouldn't be getting much conversation out of Sousuke this evening, so he tried to busy himself with tidying up their room. Although it wasn't so much as "tidying up" as much as "attempting to cover up extreme annoyance and frustration". If it's possible to clean violently, that's what Rin was doing. He shoved books back on their shelves, forcefully threw dirty laundry into the hamper, angrily wiped dust from the desks, all while casting surreptitious glares at Sousuke, who remained reclining on his bed, oblivious.

As much as he knew it was a terrible, terrible idea, Rin had seriously considered taking up Nagisa's advice. For most of dinner, he had sat across from Sousuke, trying to think of a way he could possibly blackmail him. Unfortunately, Sousuke had far more dirt on Rin than Rin had on him, and everything Rin pictured as being possible blackmail material was weak and pitiful. Or perhaps that was more fortunate rather than unfortunate, because it made Rin dismiss the notion entirely. He was just going to have to find a different way to find out, a way that hadn't been born in the depraved mind of Hazuki Nagisa.

Rin huffed, silently fuming while shoving some clothes into his drawers. He knew fully well that he'd have to refold them later once he wasn't as pissed, but at the moment he didn't really care and it kind of felt good to haphazardly fling clothing and slam drawers. He was just about to reorganize his school supplies when their room door suddenly slammed open with a bang. Rin whipped his head up but all he saw was a flash of orange rushing into the room.

"Sousuke-senpai, Sousuke-senpai!" Momo hollered, completely ignoring Rin and rushing over to their bunks. He awkwardly clambered up the side of the bunk instead of taking the ladder and jumped onto Sousuke's lap, making the tall dark haired guy jolt in shock. Sousuke propped himself up on his elbows, giving Momo a flat, deadly look.

Nitori appeared in the doorway, and based off of his panting, he had apparently just chased Momo down the hallway. "Sorry Rin-senpai, Sousuke-senpai!" he exclaimed, bowing his head. "I told him not to bother you!"

Rin sighed, leaning against his desk. "Relax, Ai," he said, a bemused expression on his face. "Nothing Momo does is ever anyone's fault other than Momo."

He turned his gaze back to Momo invading Sousuke's space, biting back a laugh as he watched Momo grab Sousuke by the shoulders and begin to shake him back and forth. Sousuke's head lolled back slightly with every repetition, his eyes dark and cold. Rin realized that Momo had been blabbering incoherently the whole time and tuned into what he was saying.

"Sousuke-senpai, you have to help me!" he shouted desperately, continuing to shake Sousuke. "I don't know what to do! Only you can help me!" He continued vehemently, none of his words making any sense, slowly growing in hysteria.

Sousuke reached up a hand and pulled out his earbud. "What?" he asked, his voice low and passive. Rin held back a snort.

"I said you have to help me, Sousuke-senpai!" Momo repeated urgently, shaking Sousuke again. "I'm begging you! Only you can help!"

"Help with what?" Sousuke asked dully, looking irritated. Momo seemed oblivious to the daggers being sent his way.

Momo turned his face to the side, a pained expression on his face. "Pyunsuke…" he began despondently, a little tear forming in the corner of his eye. "...has gone missing!"

"Oh," Sousuke replied. He blinked. "How does this relate to me?"

"Be _cause_ , Sousuke-senpai," Momo sniffed, looking like he was being tortured, "I need you to find him!"

"Me?" Sousuke repeated, furrowing his brow. "Why can't you look for him? Or Nitori? Or Rin?"

Rin scowled. "Don't drag me into this," he snapped. The last thing he felt like doing was going on a wild goose chase for Momo's precious beetle.

"No, Sousuke-senpai, it can only be you!" Momo reiterated, violently shaking Sousuke yet again. "Even I can't! Because it requires the mind of another -suke!"

Sousuke's confused expression darkened. "...Another... -suke?" he asked slowly, looking at Momo with disbelief.

"Sou _suke_ , Pyun _suke_ ," Momo explained, emphasizing the last two syllables. "You two have a connection that I will never be able to have- the connection of being a fellow -suke. You are the only one that might be able to see into the mind of Pyunsuke through that connection and find out where he is!"

There was a slight pause, before Rin couldn't hold back any longer and burst out into loud laughter. Sousuke turned his head slightly to give him a dirty look, which should have quieted Rin, but he was too far gone and only made him laugh harder. Although he'd probably pay for it later, he was enjoying watching Sousuke slowly withering away in irritation at the hands of Momo.

"Please, Sousuke-senpai!" Momo cried out, his brows furrowed in pain. "I'm begging you!"

Sousuke rolled his eyes imperceptibly and sighed. "Fine," he said in defeat, Momo immediately perking up. "If it gets you to shut up."

"Thank you Sousuke-senpai, I knew I could count on that -suke intuition!" Momo crushed him into a hug, Sousuke going rigid in discomfort. Rin snickered, making Sousuke shoot him an icy glance. Momo hopped off the bunk and landed wildly on the floor, waiting for Sousuke to slowly climb down before dragging him out of the room in a whirlwind. That left Rin alone in the room, Nitori having dutifully followed after the cyclone that was Momo and the sludge that was Sousuke.

Little chuckles still escaped Rin's mouth as he turned back to adjusting his notebooks and textbooks. After reorganizing them, he turned back to face the bunks, seeing if there was anything else that needed cleaning, when something caught his eye. It was Sousuke's ipod, easily forgotten about in the events of the evening, left neglected on Sousuke's bed. Rin stared at it for a second, before turning his head to check the door for any signs of Sousuke returning. The hallway was silent. He turned back to the ipod, and walked forward to the bunk. Reaching his hand across the sheets, his hand met the cord of the earbuds and he latched his fingers, surreptitiously pulling the black rectangle closer to him. When he finally got a hold of it, he pulled it up and touched the dial. It was unlocked.

Pulse quickening in excitement, a devious smile spread Rin's face. He cupped it in his hand and stepped away from the bunk, carefully checking the door once again. After making sure that everything was still quiet, he looked down at the small screen to see what song Sousuke had been listening to before the intrusion. Rin was surprised and annoyed that he couldn't read what the song title was, because it was in a different language. French, maybe? _I guess he likes foreign stuff?_ He paused for a minute, considering his options, before deciding to put the earbuds in and restart the song.

Rin first heard some string instruments before two high pitched, female voices began to sing, or rather warble in a way that made his skin crawl. He cringed in horror as a dim, suppressed memory popped into his head from a long, long time ago, of a night out with his mom and Gou to get some "culture", and sitting there in a theater, wanting to claw his ears out for three hours. Rin's world darkened around him, the deep chasm leading to hell and eternal suffering opening at his feet. _Sousuke… likes… opera?_

He shook his head. _Maybe it's just one song,_ he tried to console himself, quickly skipping to the next song and breathing a sigh of relief as the two grating female voices were cut off. The next song was titled something in a different language than the first, still unreadable to Rin. His momentary hope was quickly squashed after a brief orchestral intro, when this time a deep, tremulous male voice began to attack his eardrums as well, in a slower and more drawn out tempo than the first song. Rin screwed his eyes shut, his head burning in pain. _Sousuke likes opera,_ he repeated lifelessly.

He was about to shut off the horrible noise assaulting him when he glanced up. Pure terror jolted through his body as he saw Sousuke standing in the doorway, his eyes coldly fixed on the black rectangle in Rin's hands, then slowly traveled up the cord to stop at the earbuds in Rin's ears. Neither said a word, Rin scarcely breathing. He was immobile, frozen by the blocks of ice that were staring so penetratingly at him. _Fuck_ , he swore internally. _I'm dead._

"U-Uh," he choked, angrily wishing his voice hadn't shook. "Did you find Pyunsuke?"

"He was hiding under a pile of clothing," Sousuke answered tightly, his voice low and devoid of any emotion. He stepped into the room, slowly making his way over to Rin, who swallowed nervously. He stopped about a foot away from Rin, glowering over him, and extended his hand out towards him. Rin understood the message, sheepishly removing the earbuds and placing the ipod onto Sousuke's outstretched hand. Sousuke snapped his hand closed, making Rin jump back, and shoved the ipod into the pocket of his jacket.

There was an awkward tension filled pause as Sousuke just stood there glaring at Rin, Rin trying to be strong and not melt into a puddle of weakness on the floor. Seconds ticked by, the discomfort becoming nearly impossible for Rin to handle, feeling like he was having drills bored into his face by those teal blocks of ice (which he absentmindedly noticed matched the color of his jacket). He knew Sousuke was waiting for him to crack, and he didn't want to give him that satisfaction of being the first to speak.

A minute ticked by, and neither Rin nor Sousuke had said a word, waiting for the other to speak. Finally, Sousuke rolled his eyes and sighed, obviously fed up with Rin's insistent silence. "Rin," he said quietly, Rin feeling a little victorious that he held his ground. "What were you doing with my ipod?"

Rin's victory was short lived. "Uh," he coughed. He opened his mouth, trying to find words. "I just wanted to find out what kind of music you like, that's all," he muttered defensively.

"By taking my ipod," Sousuke offered. "Without asking."

"Yeah, because you're so goddamn secretive about it," Rin complained, beginning to get riled up.

Sousuke narrowed his eyes and scowled. "I didn't tell you because I knew you would laugh," he hissed darkly. "I know you hate opera."

"Yeah, because they sound like strangled squirrels," Rin snarled, clenching his fists.

A muscle in Sousuke's jaw twitched agitatedly. "You're one to talk about music taste," Sousuke announced, raising an eyebrow. "You always dismiss sad love songs, calling them stupid and sappy, and you refuse to listen to them, but I know that the real reason isn't out of contempt. It's because they make you cry." He smirked, folding his arms.

Rin's mouth dropped open, his blood boiling through his veins. "They do NOT!" he shouted, baring his teeth.

Sousuke's eyes twinkled with delight at Rin's anger. "You may be able to hide that from other people," he bragged, "but not from me."

"Shut the fuck up, you asshole!" Rin spat, making Sousuke laugh.

"That's coming from the guy who just told me that the music I like sounds like strangled squirrels," Sousuke pointed out, looking amused.

"Because it does!"

"At least I don't cry," Sousuke chuckled. Rin gave him a small shove, wanting to wipe that bemused expression off his face, but Sousuke only looked more entertained.

Rin huffed and ran his fingers through his hair. "Bastard," he grumbled, still mortified. Sousuke lightheartedly punched him in the shoulder, before turning to the bunks to start climbing up the ladder.

"Likewise, asshole."

* * *

It was after a long day at school and swim practice, and both Rin and Sousuke had returned to their room and were on their own beds, Rin absentmindedly staring up at the bunk above him, his arms folded behind his head. He assumed that Sousuke was still awake and probably listening to something on his ipod, considering that he hadn't asked him to turn the light off yet. Rin sighed. There was a light creaking from Sousuke's mattress from his body moving, and his socked feet appearing on the ladder, descending to the floor. He jumped off and landed with a soft _thump_ on the ground.

"Rin," he said, poking his head underneath the top bunk to look at Rin.

Rin sat up, running a hand through his hair. "What?"

Sousuke didn't reply and sat down on bed beside him, clutching his ipod. "Here," he said, offering Rin one of the earbuds. "I know you don't like opera, but…"

Rin scooted closer and took it, giving Sousuke a curious look. He put it in his ear, bracing himself for the worst. It was a woman's voice, not quite as high as from the one he had listened to the other day. It wasn't… terrible. Definitely not as warbling and desire-to-murder inducing as that first song, but he still didn't like it. But the most pronounced difference was the tone in the woman's voice. Whereas as the other two had been attempting at some sort of ethereal angelic sound, this one sounded more intriguing and… sensual.

"It's called Habanera," Sousuke told him after a minute. "It's from the opera Carmen."

Rin gave a little nod in response, having heard it before, although he had never really paid attention to it. He felt a bit confused as to why Sousuke was showing it to him.

Sousuke took a breath in and looked up at Rin, his eyes glinting. He leaned in closer to Rin, who watched him in befuddlement. "It reminds me of you," Sousuke murmured, drawing even closer to Rin. He was close enough now that Rin could feel his breath on his cheeks, making him redden in embarrassment. "Spicy and fiery…" Sousuke's mouth twitched into a small smile, before bringing up a hand to the back of Rin's neck and pulling him into a kiss.

Rin's eyes widened in surprise at Sousuke's forwardness, but then softly closed his eyes and met Sousuke with equal force. Sousuke's lips were softer than he had expected (actually, who was he kidding; Sousuke owned enough chapstick to put major cosmetic brands out of business), and he quickly melted into the touch. He relished the little jolts of electricity that traveled through his body and the feeling of Sousuke's hand strongly cupping the back of his neck.

All too soon, Sousuke broke away, exhaling deeply, his face still inches away from Rin's. "Also," he breathed, a little arrogant smirk on his face, "Carmen reminds me of you because in the opera, she pisses off a guy so much that he ends up stabbing her." He chuckled at the immediate darkening of Rin's expression.

Rin gritted his teeth. "Oi," he growled, scowling. He promptly gave Sousuke a swift kick in the shin, making the dark haired male flinch in pain and let out a few profanities, all generally circling around the theme of Rin being a massive asshole. Sousuke shot him a deathly glare, clutching his probably bruised shin. Rin smirked and crawled onto his muscular chest, grabbing his chin and forcefully pulling him into another kiss. Sousuke did not resist, instead easily matching Rin's force and power, despite his momentary pain and suffering at the hands of his asshole roommate and best friend.

As much as they fought and called each other names, they still cared deeper for each other than they'd like to admit. At this point, "asshole" and "bastard" were more terms of endearment than anything else.

* * *

 **A/N:**

 **God, I am so sorry. Actually no I'm not, this was way too much fun to write.**

 **PSA this is not me hating on opera, I love lots of opera pieces and listen to a bunch of it, but I know plenty of people who don't, and to me, Rin seems like he wouldn't.**

 **A lot of random music inspired this sacrilegious piece of writing, so here's a taste:**

 **My roommate from this past year was OBSESSED with French 60s pop, so I ended up with a few songs on my ipod thanks to her, and last week I was listening to this one and I just got this mental image of Nagisa seducing Rei to it and... I can never unsee it. The song is Ne Sois Pas Si B** **ête by France Gall. Let me know if you see the Nagisa, BECAUSE I SEE THE NAGISA. Also, 'ne sois pas si b** **ête' essentially translates to 'don't be so stupid', which I think is pretty fitting.  
**

 **I don't know why, but I have this absolute certainty that beneath all that intimidation and toughness, Sousuke is actually a super classy, fine wine and classic films kinda guy. So therefore, opera. The two pieces that Rin first listens to on Sousuke's ipod are The Flower Duet from Lakmé and Nessun Dorma from Turandot (both of which are beautiful holy hell chills), and then of course, Habanera. Clich** ** **é as hell, I know. But I mean, if Rin were a vegetable, he would definitely be a red, flaming, spicy pepper, so Habanera fits.****

 ** **(...what am I even saying anymore...)** **

****And yes, of course Rin is hardcore, angsty metal/rock, also known as most of my ipod. So basically anything by Metallica or Black Sabbath.****

 ** **So I hope you enjoyed this travesty, or at least didn't hate it with every fiber of your being. If you like long fics about arson and Makoharu, you should definitely check out 'The Flames of Heaven', co-written by sexythroatbitchohyescats and yours truly. It's a lot more serious than this mess. For the most part. The crack has to slip in every now and then.****


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